


It Seems Like the World is Shattering

by F-117 Nighthawk (F117_Nighthawk)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Fluff and Angst, Gen, I am Also a Bit of a Mess, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, Keith is Not Okay, broganes, kindaaaaa?????, ssshhhhh let me project, this is basically a bunch of mental health shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-08 00:24:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12243513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F117_Nighthawk/pseuds/F-117%20Nighthawk
Summary: Keith isn't having a good day so he goes and sits in Scarlet to calm down.





	It Seems Like the World is Shattering

**Author's Note:**

> *casually tosses what is essentially a vent fic into the void* September is the worst month ever. Of all time.  
> Title from Epica's Omen ~ The Ghoulish Malady because _wow_ does The Quantum Enigma fit Anxiety Hell

Keith had been on edge all day. He didn’t know  _ why _ he was on edge, he just  _ was. _ It wasn’t the good kind of on edge, either. It was the type that if the Empire attacked he’d just as likely collapse in a ball as hop into Scarlet and tear things up. 

He wished he knew why this was happening. He’d been fine during breakfast and group training, but right after lunch he’d snapped at someone about something, he didn’t even remember at this point, and stomped off to the training deck to work through the buzzing in his limbs. But it. Didn’t. Stop. It was under his skin, in his chest, buzzing its way through arteries and veins. He could feel it in the middle of his chest, buzzing buzzing buzzing buzzing. The castle was buzzing buzzing buzzing in time with his heartbeat, vents shifting, engines whirring, machinery of purpose he couldn’t hope to understand creaking and groaning. His heart was buzzing buzzing buzzing blood buzzing buzzing buzzing in his chest. He could hear the others, hallways away, their voices buzzing buzzing buzzing. The buzzing almost hurt and it wouldn’t  _ stop. _

Keith gave up on the training deck and wandered the halls for a while. He considered going to find one of the others, but the instant he came within a few hundred feet of Pidge he realized he physically couldn’t. The closer he got to someone the harsher the buzzing was. He couldn’t deal with social interaction at this point, even if Pidge was practically his sister. 

Before he realized it he was in the Lion’s hangar. Scarlet was leaning down with her mouth open, a silent invitation to climb into what was the safest place on the ship. Gratefully, he climbed her ramp and stood in her cargo bay. He glanced around for a moment and spotted an open locker, overflowing with blankets and pillows. He grabbed them all in one armful and deposited them in the corner furthest from the cockpit and ramp. Keith spent a moment arranging them before he sat down in the middle of them. He grabbed one, red and vaguely cylindrical, and hugged it to his chest. It was a poor substitute for a hug, but it was the closest he could get right now.

He could still feel the blood buzzing buzzing buzzing in his chest, feel his heartbeat in every inch of his body his breath buzzing buzzing buzzing in his lungs. Scarlet rumbled around him, an attempt at comfort. She changed a screen on her wall to one of the TV shows Pidge had uploaded to the Castle from her laptop. He focused on nothing but the Lego ninja on the screen, pushing the buzzing away until it was nothing, entirely absorbed in the old show. 

After six episodes the buzzing was gone, but he still felt like if he moved wrong the world was going to shatter. 

**Cub. Your brother is wondering where you are.**

**Why does he want to know?**

**He is worried for your health. Check your messages.**

Keith pulled out his comm from his pocket. There was a string of increasingly worried messages from Shiro, asking where he was and why he hadn’t seen him all day and why he wasn’t at dinner. Keith didn’t have the brainpower to answer him, to explain why he’d hid with Scarlet through dinner. 

**Can you answer him? Through Kuro?**

Scarlet purred a yes and enveloped him in a mental hug. The metal at his back warmed slightly, Scarlet using her environmental controls to further the hug. 

A moment later another message from Shiro appeared on his comm screen:  _ Can I bring you food? _

Keith hesitated for a moment, but responded with  _ As long as you don’t talk. _

Shiro sent him an emoji with zipped lips and a thumbs up. Keith bit back a snort. He could always count on Shiro to be able to cheer him up even a little. 

A couple minutes later Scarlet opened her ramp just enough for Shiro to be able to climb through, a bowl of space-pasta and a slice of thickly buttered bread in his hands. He looked around like he didn’t know where he should be standing, but Keith waved him over into his nest of blankets. Shiro sat down next to him and placed the food down between them. Keith picked up the food with one hand and scooted over so he could lean against Shiro, other hand manipulating Shiro’s arm so he was hugging him to his side. Shiro seemed to get the drift and squeezed lightly, settling back against the mound of pillows and blankets.

The universe no longer felt like it was going to shatter when Keith breathed too deeply. The buzzing was gone. The shatter-feeling and the buzzing were sure to come back at some point, yes, but that didn’t matter. Right now he felt as fine as he could be. He made it through the rest of the season before he fell asleep, head pillowed on Shiro’s shoulder.

**Author's Note:**

> Look y'all if I want Keith to hug definitely-not-my-Iron-Man-Tsum-Tsum and watch all of Ninjago because that's what I did yesterday I can do that.  
>  ~~I somehow manage to finagle canon all the time to give my favorite characters creatures that can talk with them through some mystical connection and know when to tell their team they're A Bit Not Good _and_ big siblings who are always willing to give hugs I'm definitely not projecting there nope shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh~~


End file.
